Thursday, June 3, 2010

Cats were highly venerated in Egypt thousands of years ago. In fact, when they were trapped in a burning building, Egyptians would rescue them before fighting the fire.

Mummified Bubastis Cat

This particular mummified cat lived in Egypt over 2000 years ago. Mummified in bitumen resin, this cat lived a life of luxury in the royal temple of Bubastis, the city devoted to Bast, the cat goddess of pleasure, dancing and music. Worshippers invoked Bast to protect them from contagious diseases. Anyone killing a cat, even accidentally, was instantly put to death.

The mystery behind feline personalities and their intelligence has always been of interest to me. I've always had cats and the Egyptians really held cats in very high regard for specific reasons. Never knew that one could be put to death for harm or death, though. Unique article, Lauren.

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